Timo Glock on Ferrari’s latest blunder: You can really only laugh

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc prepares to get into his car in free practice. Hungary July 2022.
Timo Glock says one can “only laugh” as Ferrari returned from the summer break with yet another strategy blunder to add to their growing list.
2022 started brightly for Ferrari, two wins in the first three grands prix, only for the team and Charles Leclerc’s title quest to implode.
The driver has lost six wins from a race-winning position, one due to his own error, two because of reliability and three because of strategy mistakes.
The latter had pundits calling for Ferrari to make changes over the summer break but team boss Mattia Binotto insisted that was not needed, rather Ferrari need to grow and learn together.
Alas another mistake in the first race back after the summer break has pundits giggling.
“You can really only laugh,” former F1 driver turned pundit Glock told Sky Deutschland. “I really can’t think of anything anymore.”
What had Glock laughing was Ferrari’s mistake in Q3 where the team sent Leclerc, facing a back-of-the-grid start due to engine penalties, out on a brand new set of soft tyres when the plan was to ran used tyres.
“What about these tyres? Why are they new?” asked the driver.
The reply: “That was a mistake on our part.”
But instead of bringing the driver back in with just one lap on the tyres, they told him to stay out meaning Leclerc now has one set less of new softs to use in the grand prix.
"We will discuss and see what went wrong"
Charles Leclerc reacts to the tyre mix up he suffered in Q3 👇 pic.twitter.com/eFnOjmIIZ4
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 27, 2022
Ferrari, though, later denied it was a mistake.
“It was a decision that was made at the last second,” Ferrari race director Laurent Mekies explained to Sky Sports.
“Even if Charles starts from the back, there are six other cars that are also starting from behind, and you have to beat them in qualifying first.”
Leclerc later downplayed the error himself.
“I think there was a miscommunication, it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “But obviously I mentioned it because I was a bit surprised.
“But yeah, it doesn’t change anything anyway, for the rest of the weekend.”
Asked by Motorsport.com if there was any frustration over yet another mistake, Leclerc replied: “No.”
Leclerc will line up P16 on Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix grid, one place behind his title rival Max Verstappen who also has engine penalties.
Carlos Sainz is on pole position, the Spaniard starting alongside the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez.